Network-based resources such as web pages, documents, media or other files may be presented to users on computing devices that are equipped with specific applications commonly called browsers. A browser is a client-side application that is configured to receive resources that are hosted on one or more server-side devices, and to process and render such resources on one or more computing displays after receiving a request for such content. The request may include a Uniform Resource Identifier (“URI”), such as a Uniform Resource Locator (or “URL”), associated with a network-based resource that includes the requested content, or another location of files that include the requested content. For example, a request for network-based content may comprise an entry of a URI or a URL into an address box or address bar of a browser; a selection of an image or set of text rendered by the browser or another application that may be hyperlinked to a URI or a URL; or a selection of a bookmark, a “home” button or any other feature of the browser that may be hyperlinked to or otherwise associated with a URI or a URL. Upon receiving the request from the browser, a server associated with the URI or URL handles the request by providing code expressed in one or more computer languages, such as Hypertext Markup Language (or “HTML”), to the browser, which then uses one or more rendering engines (or layout engines) to render the code provided by the server into a page, which may include one or more files embedded within the code provided by the server.
A typical URI, such as a URL, includes a specific string of characters and punctuation marks that provide a direct reference to one or more files associated with a network-based resource. For example, a URL may include a reference to a scheme or a protocol, such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (or “HTTP”), as well as a host name and top-level domain (such as .com or .org), followed by a description of a file path according to a predetermined syntax in which folders, directories or file names are listed as separated by slashes. Thus, a URL may represent a virtual road map for locating and accessing network-based resources maintained at one or more servers or like machines associated with the host name and within the one or more folders or directories. The URL may be typed by a user into an address box or address bar of a browser, or provided in a hyperlink to a document (e.g., a word processing document, an electronic message or a portion of another network-based resource) and selected by the user, in order to access the network-based resource with which the URL is associated.
At an international level, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (or “ICANN”) manages the distribution of domain names and is responsible for implementing the Domain Name System (or “DNS”) around the globe. The advent of the World Wide Web and the rapid proliferation of Internet-enabled devices on which such content may be accessed have caused most of the brief, easy-to-remember domain names to be purchased and held by Internet developers, and such domain names are now increasingly scarce. Therefore, many URLs include multiple words formed in long, drawn out phrases, as well as variations on such words or phrases that are intended to uniquely identify the network-based resources with which they are associated. Moreover, in view of the broad diversification of content that is now available on the Internet, many URLs include lengthy file paths that reference multiple folders or directories, or may trigger the operation of one or more functions. In this regard, a URL may be very lengthy and may have little to no etymologic or apparent relation to a network-based resource with which they are associated, and may often be difficult to remember and spell correctly by users who view the URLs and wish to access the underlying network-based resource at a later time.